Editing Star and crescent (section)

==== Iran (Persia) ====
The star and crescent symbol appears on some coins of the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] vassal kingdom of [[Elymais]] in the late 1st century AD.
The same symbol is present in coins that are possibly associated with [[Orodes I of Parthia]] (1st century BC). In the 2nd century AD, some Parthian coins show a simplified "pellet within crescent" symbol.<ref>Michael Alram, ''Nomina Propria Iranica in Nummis, Materialgrundlagen zu den iranischen Personennamen auf Antiken Münzen'' (1986); C. Augé, "Quelques monnaies d'Elymaïde," ''Bulletin de la [[Société française de numismatique|Société Française de Numismatique]]'', November 1976; 
N. Renaud, "Un nouveau souverain d'Elymaïde," ''Bulletin de la Société Française de Numismatique'', January 1999, pp. 1–5. 
[http://www.parthia.com/parthia_coins_elymais.htm#Kamnaskires_Late Coins of Elymais (parthia.com)].</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:OrodesIICoinHistoryofIran.jpg|A star and crescent appearing (separately) on the obverse side of a coin of [[Orodes II of Parthia]] (r. 57&ndash;37 BC).
File:Vardanesi.jpg|Coin of [[Vardanes I]] of Parthia (r. c. AD 40&ndash;45)
</gallery>
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Coin of the Sasanian king Kavad II (cropped), minted at Susa in 628.jpg|Coin of the Sasanian king [[Kavad II]], minted at Susa in 628
File:KhosrauIIGoldCoinCroppedHistoryofIran.jpg|Gold coin of [[Khosrow II]]  (r. 570&ndash;628).
File:XusravIIICoinHistoryofIran.jpg|Coin of [[Khosrow III]]
File:Drachma of Hormidz IV - cropped.jpg|Coin of [[Hormizd IV]]
File:Ispahbod Xurshid's coin-1.jpg|Silver dirham issued by Ispahbudh [[Khurshid of Tabaristan]]
File:Main-qimg-3edfe670ef8411d0d22df020be518e44.jpg|Arab-Sassanian coin was issued, which was added with arabic writing by the [[Umayyad]]s
</gallery>

[[File:Gold coin of Kavad I, possibly minted at Susa, in 529 or 530.jpg|thumb|A coin of Sassanid king [[Kavadh I]] during his second reign (r. 488–531). Kavadh was the first Sassanid ruler to introduce star-and-crescent motifs as decorations on the margin of the obverse side of his coins. Note the continued use of the star and the crescent appearing on either side of the king's head.]]
The star and crescent motif appears on the margin of [[Sassanid]] coins in the 5th century.<ref>"The star and crescent are common Persian symbols, being a regular feature of the borders of Sassanian dirhems." Philip Grierson, ''Byzantine Coins'', Taylor & Francis, 1982, p118</ref>
Sassanid rulers also appear to have used crowns featuring a crescent,  sphere and crescent, or star and crescent.

Use of the star-and-crescent combination apparently goes back to the earlier appearance of a star and a crescent on [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] coins, first under King [[Orodes II]] (1st century BC). In these coins, the two symbols occur separately, on either side of the king's head, and not yet in their combined star-and-crescent form.
Such coins are also found further afield in [[Greater Persia]], by the end of the 1st century AD in a coin issued by the [[Western Satraps]] ruler [[Chashtana]].<ref>"A rare type with crescent and star alone on the reverse is probably Chashtana's earliest issue, struck before he extended his power into Malwa." H.H. Dodwell (Ed.), ''The Cambridge Shorter History of India'', Cambridge University Press, 1935, p. 83.</ref> 
This arrangement is likely inherited from its Ancient Near Eastern predecessors; the star and crescent symbols are not frequently found in Achaemenid iconography, but they are present in some cylinder seals of the Achaemenid era.<ref>Achaemenid period: 
"not normally associated with scenes cut in the Court Style"; Persepolis seal PFS 71 (M. B. Garrison in Curtis and Simpson (eds.), ''The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East'' (2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=IoQAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA354 p. 354])
PFS 9 (M. B. Garrison, ''Seals And The Elite At Persepolis; Some Observations On Early Achaemenid Persian Art'' (1991), [https://archive.org/stream/Garrison1991SealsAndTheEliteAtPersepolisSomeObservationsOnEarlyAchaemenidPersianArt/Garrison%201991%20Seals%20and%20the%20Elite%20at%20Persepolis%3B%20Some%20Observations%20on%20Early%20Achaemenid%20Persian%20Art#page/n7/mode/2up p. 8]).
Parthian period: "[t]he Parthian king [[Mithradates I]] conquered Mesopotamia around 147&nbsp;BC, and [[Susa]] in about 140&nbsp;BC A later Parthian king, [[Orodes II]] (58–38&nbsp;BC), issued coins at Susa and elsewhere which display a star and crescent on the obverse. The succeeding ruler, [[Phraates IV]] (38-3/2&nbsp;BC), minted coins showing either a star alone or a star with crescent moon. In representing the star and crescent on their coins the Parthians thus adopted traditional symbols used in [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Elam]] more than two millennia before their own arrival in those parts." John Hansman, "The great gods of Elymais" in ''Acta Iranica, Encyclopédie Permanente Des Etudes Iraniennes, v.X, Papers in Honor of Professor Mary Boyce'', Brill Archive, 1985, pp 229&ndash;232</ref>

Ayatollahi (2003) attempts to connect the modern adoption as an "Islamic symbol" to Sassanid coins remaining in circulation after the Islamic conquest
<ref>"Sasani coins remained in circulation in Moslem countries up to the end of the first century ([[Islamic calendar|Hijra]]). This detailed description of Sasani crowns was presented because the motifs mentioned, particularly the star and crescent gradually changed into Islamic symbols and have often appeared in the decorative patterns of various periods of Islamic art. [...] The flags of many Islamic countries bear crescents and stars and are proof of this Sasani innovation." Habibollah Ayatollahi (trans. Shermin Haghshenās), ''The Book of Iran: The History of Iranian Art'', Alhoda UK, 2003, pp 155–157</ref> which is an analysis that stands in stark contrast to established consensus that there is no evidence for any connection of the symbol with Islam or the Ottomans prior to its adoption in [[Ottoman flags]] in the late 18th century.<ref>"when we come to examine the history of the crescent as a badge of Muhammadanism, we are confronted by the fact that it was not employed by the Arabs or any of the first peoples who embraced the faith of the prophet" 
"The truth is that the crescent was not identified with Islam until after the appearance of the Osmanli Turks, whilst on the other hand there is the clearest evidence that in the time of the Crusades, and long before, the crescent and star were a regular badge of Byzantium and the Byzantine Emperors, some of whom placed it on their coins."
William Ridgeway, "The Origin of the Turkish Crescent", in ''The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'', Vol. 38 (Jul. – Dec. 1908), pp. 241–258 (p 241)</ref>